PARADE OF PAWS
The 10th annual Parade of Paws will be held in Pine Grove on Sunday, May 1, 2016. The event will be held at the same location as last year! We will be walking the scenic trails of Sweet Arrow Lake and enjoying the beauty of the countryside. The walk will begin at the pavilion at the breast of the lake on Waterfall Road, Pine Grove. There are trails available to walk for the “avid walker” and also for the “once in a while” walker. Many benches are available to sit and rest while enjoying the beauty of the lake. The walk will begin at 2:00. Watch for signs.
100% of the proceeds will go to the Ray of Hope Fund created by Mt. Shadow Vet Hospital. This fund is set up to help underprivileged pets in Schuylkill County. The doctors and staff at Mt. Shadow are in charge of distributing the fund as needed.
There will be a prize for the walker who collects the most money. The prize, a basket of pet supplies, is being donated by Golden Acres Rescue and Mt. Shadow Veterinary Hospital. There will be watering stations for both 2 and 4 legged walkers throughout the trails.
To participate, walkers are asked to collect monetary donations and bring them in a sealed envelope with your name and phone number on it the day of the walk. Bring your friendly leashed canines to the lake to enjoy an afternoon of relaxation and fun. Walkers without canines are also welcome to join us! If you would like to donate to the fund and cannot join us with the walk, donations can be sent to Mt. Shadow Veterinary Hospital, 64 Kiehner’s Road, Schuylkill Haven. Please make all checks payable to Ray of Hope Fund/Mt. Shadow. Please note that all walkers walk at their own risk and all children must be accompanied by an adult.
For questions, directions, or more information please call 717-813-5284 or email gretrievers5@yahoo.com.

The Gratz Parks and Recreation committee is holding an evening of free music in the Gratz Borough park with the Fat Cats, an acoustic rock band, on Sunday, June 19 from 4-7. Please bring a lawn chair or blanket. The park committee will be selling food at the parks concession stand.

Chinese Auction
To Benefit
The PKD (Kidney) Foundation
August 14, 2016
Donaldson Firehouse
Doors open at 12:00
Auction begins at 2:30
(Shop & Drop August 13, 2016
6:00-8:00 p.m.)
Light Refreshments
Kidney disease affects many people in our area.
Unfortunately, there is no treatment or cure for PKD (Kidney Disease),
So with your help, we can raise money to look for a treatment for this disease.
Thanks you!

Hi Rebecca; Many thanks for running the press release about our open house. We had several people show up from Valley View who read it. I hope you are able at some point to run the article about Willie Brown, the Mahantongo folk singer, and how his song “Hab lumpedruwwel” was used in a symphonic composition by the famous German-American composer Paul Hindemith. It’s a fascinating story about how a local song made it into the big time. Again, many thanks for all your support. Bro. Johannes

Could you put this Non Profit announcement in your print addition this week please?
Thank you so much!

Hope’s Haven Benefit Auction Events:
Silent Auction with Chicken & Waffle Dinner on March 10th
and Live Auction on March 11th, 2017

Hope’s Haven, a local Christian nonprofit organization that holds summer camps for abused or neglected Pennsylvania children, will hold its annual benefit auction. This year the ministry will also be adding a Silent Auction with a Chicken and Waffle Dinner the night before the live auction. Every summer, the ministry invites current and former foster care children to spend four days at camp free-of-charge.

Both events will take place at Reigles Bible Fellowship Church. The church is located on Route 25 between Berrysburg and Millersburg.

• The silent auction and chicken and waffle dinner will be on Friday, March 10th from 5:00-7:00pm.

• The Live Auction begins Saturday morning at 10:00am on March 11th, 2017.

In addition to great items to bid on, food will also be for sale. Auction proceeds will benefit the organization’s summer camps for foster care children. A detailed list of auction items can be found at http://www.hopeshavencamp.org. For more information or to donate an auction item, visit the Hope’s Haven website, email info@hopeshavencamp.org or contact 570-850-9443.

Well, we’re open for another year! Here is our press release. Many thanks, as always, for your support; it’s greatly appreciated. I also have a photo. If I can get an email address for you, I can send it as an attachment. Johannes

The Hermitage in Pitman is open for tours by appointment through the end of October, with the annual open house scheduled for Sunday, August 13, noon to 4 p.m.
The Hermitage is a Harmonist spiritual center that also includes the Mahantongo Heritage Center and a collection of historic buildings.
Tours typically last two hours and include the only museum dedicated to the arts and crafts of the Pennsylvania German settlers of the Mahantongo Valley. The Center features local furniture and historic photographs, as well as regional collections of iron, pottery, textiles, and tools.
Buildings open this year include the 1759 Gemeinehaus (community house) moved from the Moravian missionary village of Nain in the Lehigh Valley and rebuilt in the 1990’s. The print shop features a variety of historic presses and the tools and equipment used to handset type. The spinning and weaving studio contains a variety of spinning wheels, looms, flax and wool tools, and historic textiles. The 1890’s Church School was moved from its original site east of Pitman and is furnished as a one-room school. The 1770’s pioneer settler’s cabin of Johann Philip Klinger Jr. can also be seen.
The sculpture garden is also open, with its six-foot metal dog, rocket ship and “Wheel Thing,” an interactive assembly of agricultural and mining gears and wheels. Adjacent to the school house is the Gong Project, a large, interactive percussion sculpture made of a variety of metal drums and tanks that visitors can play.
The Open House on August 13 will feature the first tour of the Gallery, a new exhibit space featuring the paintings of Bro. Zephram, as well as important local pieces such as the front doors of the now-demolished Haas mansion west of Franklin Square; the rag-rug loom of Russell Engel, the last weaver of the Mahantongo Valley; and an original pew of local wood from St. James’ Lutheran Church in Pitman. The gallery tour will begin at 3 p.m.
Bro. Johannes will fire the traditional outdoor bake oven for a full range of Pennsylvania Dutch baked goods, from sourdough bread to shoo fly pie and ginger snaps. Bro. Zephram will demonstrate the spinning of wool and flax on historic wheels.
A film crew from Maryland will be at the Open House for a documentary about the Hermitage and the work of the brothers. A release date will be announced later this year.
The Hermitage was founded in 1988 by Brothers Johannes and Zephram as a sacred site where earth and spirit unite in harmony.
Tours can be arranged in advance by contacting the Hermitage at 570-425-2548 or BroJoh@yahoo.com. Tours are free but donations are appreciated.
The Hermitage is located at 75 Grove Road, Pitman, adjacent to Hepler’s Grove.

Operation Hugs and Kisses Family Fun Night to be held on Friday, August 11th from 5:00 – 9:00? We will have live entertainment from One Broken Wing, a Christian soft rock band new to the area as well as other entertainment. Food, old fashioned carnival games and other local non-profit organizations will be set up and doing different activities.

If any nonprofit organizations wish to set up a stand please contact Missy Witherow at 570 294 2503.

This late summer, family based evening of inexpensive food, games and entertainment is geared as a give back to our communities and a way for families to spend time together enjoying fresh air, a night out without breaking the bank.

If anyone wishes to donate or is a non profit and would like to set up a table and / or activity please contact us on Facebook or one of our members.

The Willing Workers of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Tremont will be holding their annual Kauffman’s Chicken BBQ on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost of tickets is $8 for half a chicken and a baked potato. There will also be a bake sale at the time of the BBQ, all donations from our church bakers. Tickets can be ordered by calling 570-915-6379.